by Emma Quinn
“The new nanny is here!” Maria announced as they entered the room. The man and the woman on the couch both looked up.
“Oh thank God,” said the woman vehemently. She was an elegant blonde with dark brown eyes and long legs, wearing too much eye-makeup and designer jeans that accentuated her slim build.
The man smiled and stood up, crossing the room with one hand already outstretched. He was easily the most beautiful man Alana had ever met. Tall and slender like the woman, his features could not be more different. His thick black hair was swept off his forehead in a stylish cut, accentuating his high cheekbones and straight nose. His eyes were dark, but blue, not brown, and his smile when he greeted Alana could have melted gold.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Alana, wasn’t it?” he said as they shook hands. “I’m Jack Menuda and this is my girlfriend Eleanor,” he gestured back to the elegant blonde. “You have no idea how pleased we are that you could come out on such short notice. And we hear you are the best.”
Alana smiled, fighting hard to keep her facial expression from betraying what the man was doing to her insides. “I’m just happy to have a new placement so soon after my last one. I was sad to see them go.”
“Yes, they moved back to Europe, we heard,” Jack kept up his impossible smile.
Alana nodded.
“Well, their loss is our gain. Why don’t you come through and meet Lottie?”
Alana nodded, eager to be distracted from how beautiful her new employer was.
Eleanor rose from the couch and trailed the group out a side door, through an expansive and modern kitchen, whose back wall was all windows looking out at the large back yard. Maria led them through the door and out into the back, which turned out to hold a large herb and vegetable garden.
“You grow your own vegetables?” Alana asked, turning to Maria in surprise.
The older woman nodded. “Well, I have help. But they just taste better when they’re fresh.”
Jack laughed. “You can say that again. Maria’s the best cook I’ve ever had. I thought she was crazy when she arrived and wanted to set up a garden, but I’ve been proved wrong.” He slung a companionable arm around Maria’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “And now God knows what we would do without Maria.”
Maria shook her head and waved her boss away as if he were a small child. “Oh go on with you,” she said, but she was smiling.
Alana made a mental note to never, ever piss Maria off. But it was nice to see a household that was so close. Often the families, especially the fathers, hardly interacted with the staff at all.
“Lottie!” Jack called as they crossed the garden, heading toward the willow trees that lined the back of the property. “Lottie!”
“Yeah?” the voice came from overhead and all four adults craned their heads to look up.
On the lowest branch of a willow, a skinny, dark-haired girl sat, leaning back against the trunk, her legs hanging down on either side of the thick branch below her. She had earbuds in, listening to music on her phone, but she had let one dangle to talk to her father.
“Oh for heaven’s sake!” Eleanor snapped. “Get down from there, Lottie. You’ll break your neck. You’re not a monkey.”
Lottie just rolled her eyes and stayed where she was.
“Come on, Lottie,” her father cajoled, clearly worried. “Could you come down, please? We have someone we’d like you to meet.”
Lottie slunk down deeper into the space where the branch met the trunk and her father sighed.
“Sorry about this,” he said to Alana.
But Alana shrugged and put down her purse. This was not the first sulky child Alana had ever met and she knew exactly what to do. Reaching up, she pulled herself into the lowest branches of the willow tree. She’d taken gymnastics all through her teen years, but it was only when she’d started working as a nanny that she realized how useful that training had been. It was just a good thing she’d decided to wear her sensible shoes this morning instead of her fancier heels.
Shocked, Lottie watched Alana climb, her earbud still in her hand, frozen on its way back to her ear. “What are you doing?” she asked as Alana passed her.
“Climbing,” said Alana.
“You shouldn’t go up that high,” Lottie said, watching as Alana passed her and kept climbing.
“Why not?” Alana asked.
“Because the branches are thinner. It’s dangerous,” Lottie replied.
Alana paused, settling herself side-saddle on a branch. “They are, aren’t they? So how do you think your dad feels when he sees you up here?”
Lottie looked at Alana for a moment, then glanced down at her father. “Yeah, okay,” she mumbled and stuffed her headphones and phone deep into her jacket pocket.
Alana quickly went back down the way she came, lowering herself back down to earth as Lottie was still maneuvering around the trunk. “You want me to catch you?” Alana asked, keeping her voice as neutral as possible.
Lottie looked down over her shoulder at Alana. “I guess,” she admitted. “Coming down is harder than going up.”
“Right?” Alana agreed. “That’s, like, all of life, though, basically.”
Lottie made a noise that might have been a laugh, right before she threw herself into Alana’s arms. She only dropped about a foot and her body was small, but Alana still had to brace herself for the impact. Luckily, the twins had loved jumping off things when you were least expecting them to, so Alana had a lot of practice catching flying children. Gently, she set Lottie on the ground.
Standing on the grass, surrounded by adults, it was much easier to see that Lottie was only a young child, not the sassy teenager she’d been acting like while up in the tree.
“You got up pretty high though,” said Alana, glancing back at the tree.
“No kidding,” Eleanor snapped. “You’re going to give your father a heart attack.”
Lottie looked at Eleanor coldly and took a step backwards towards Alana. “Dad’s fine,” she said. “You guys were busy anyway.”
“Lottie,” Jack, squatted down in front of his daughter. “You know I’m never too busy for you. You just have to come and talk to me. You can’t go climbing trees on your own like that. What would have happened if you’d fallen? We wouldn’t have even known where to look.”
Lottie looked down at the toes of her runners. “Sorry,” she mumbled, hanging her head.
Jack wrapped her in a tight hug. “Just promise me you’ll stick close to Alana, okay?” he asked.
“Is that you?” Lottie asked, turning back to her new nanny.
Alana nodded. “That’s me. I’m the new nanny. Is that okay?”
Lottie gave Alana a serious once over and shrugged. “Yeah, you seem fine,” she said.
Alana knew that, coming from a child like Lottie, “fine” was high praise, but Eleanor was not quite as perceptive: “Don’t be so rude, Lottie! Alana’s here to look after you for your own good. Try not to chase her away like all the others.”
Lottie’s shoulders hunched over and Alana felt sorry for her.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Lottie doesn’t even know me yet. How can she tell if she likes me or not after just five minutes?”
Lottie glanced up at Alana and gave her a tiny smile.
Eleanor huffed. “Don’t encourage her,” she told Alana.
Lottie’s smile disappeared.
“Why don’t we go back to the house?” Jack proposed, clearly not knowing whose side to take. Alana didn’t envy him the choice, but for her it was clear: family comes first. “Maria, you made cookies, didn’t you?”
“Peanut butter. Lottie’s favorite,” Maria confirmed.
Jack took his daughter by the hand and led the way back to the house, purposefully walking between Eleanor and Lottie.
“That was nice,” Maria whispered to Alana as they walked behind the family. “You’re pretty good at climbing.”
Alana laughed and shrugged. “I get lots of practice a
s a nanny. My last kids were twin boys. They were constantly climbing something.”
Maria chuckled. “I bet. And the way you handled Lottie…she’s used to people just getting mad at her. She acts out for the attention.”
Alana nodded. She’d done the same when her mother had died. “I figured as much. It must be hard though, with her father being gone so often.”
Maria nodded. “Goodness knows I’ve tried to give her the love she needs, but I can only do so much. The girl needs a mother.”
“Well, I’ll do my best to fill the void,” said Alana.
When they arrived at the house, Eleanor was quick to remind Jack that they had a lunch meeting.
“We’ll be late for the investors if we don’t leave now, dear,” she said, clearly anxious to get away from Lottie.
Jack nodded, but didn’t move away from his daughter, smoothing her dark, tangled hair away from her forehead as Maria served up a plate of still warm peanut butter cookies on the kitchen island. Lottie slid onto one of the high wooden stools, propping her elbows on the bright, hand-painted Italian tiles of the counter top and reached for a cookie.
“Are you going to be okay here with Maria and Alana?” Jack asked her.
Lottie shrugged, already chewing her cookie. “It’s fine,” she said, around a mouthful of peanut butter.
“Come on, Jack,” Eleanor pressured.
Jack sighed. “Well,” he said, turning his dark eyes back to Alana, “it was lovely to meet you.”
“You too,” said Alana, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Do you want some milk with that?” she asked, already turning back to Lottie. The sooner she looked away from her handsome employer, the better.
Lottie looked up, smiling.
Eleanor frowned, jumping in before Lottie could answer. “Lottie shouldn’t have milk. It’ll make her break out.”
“Oh, okay,” said Alana, watching Lottie wilt again. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Well, now you do,” said Eleanor. “Jack, we really have to go.”
Jack nodded and, with one last look at his daughter, he followed her out.
Alana waited a moment before sliding onto the stool next to Lottie. “Does dairy really make you break out?” she asked.
Lottie shrugged. “No, but Eleanor thinks it’s bad, so she doesn’t let me drink it.”
Alana glanced at Maria, who nodded. “So…do you want some milk with that cookie?”
Lottie beamed at her. “Yes, please!” she said. “Peanut butter cookies are way better with milk.”
“Right?” Alana nodded. “Way better. Maybe I’ll have a glass too. Maria?”
“Oh, well, why not,” Maria smiled.
Alana went to the fridge and pulled out the milk. Maria brought out three glasses and Alana poured. Then, the three women settled down around the island and enjoyed their snack, warmed by the early morning sun coming in the wide kitchen windows.
After they’d finished eating, Lottie looked across the island at Alana and said solemnly, “You seem okay.”
Alana and Maria glanced at each other and hid their smiles.
“Thank you,” said Alana just as solemnly. “You seem okay too.”
For the first time since Alana had arrived, Lottie laughed.
3
A
lana had been with the Menudas for three weeks and it was finally starting to feel like home. Jack and Eleanor were almost never there. Jack worked all day and Eleanor had her own place in the city – which was a blessing because she and Lottie did not get along. And, honestly, after hearing a couple of stories about Eleanor, Alana couldn’t really blame Lottie for acting out. Alana nearly acted out herself once, after hearing Eleanor’s views on Lottie’s body.
“Do you want to go swimming today?” Alana asked Lottie one morning over breakfast. “I was thinking we could go to the pool after school. How does that sound?”
Lottie stirred her eggs quietly. “Maybe,” she’d said.
Alana frowned. “What’s up?”
The little girl shrugged her skinny shoulders. “Nothing,” she replied.
“Lottie,” Alana insisted gently.
Lottie heaved an enormous sigh. “I don’t like the way I look in a bathing suit,” she finally admitted.
Alana blinked. “Why not?” she asked softly.
“Because I’m too bony. Eleanor says I look like an African orphan.”
“What do you think?” Alana asked, biting her tongue hard.
“Well, I am pretty bony,” Lottie said, her head hanging.
“Lottie,” Alana shook her head. “You’re a kid. You’re still growing. You’ll probably be all slender and elegant when you grow up. The important thing is: do you like swimming?”
Lottie nodded.
“Then who cares how you look in a bathing suit? That’s nobody’s business. You’re there to swim and have fun. People like to take their own insecurities out on other people. But that doesn’t mean you have to listen to them.”
“But Eleanor’s beautiful and rich. Why would she be insecure?” Lottie asked, reading between the lines of Alana’s comment.
Alana shrugged. “You’re beautiful and rich but you still don’t want to go swimming,” she pointed out.
Lottie stirred her eggs again. “Do you think so?” she asked.
“Do I think what?”
“That I’m beautiful?”
“Lottie, you’re stunning,” Alana said. And she wasn’t lying. For all that Lottie was a bit on the wild side, she had a beautiful, slender face with large grey eyes and glossy, dark hair with just a hint of red in it, not unlike Alana’s. “And when you grow up, you’re going to be drop dead gorgeous.”
Lottie giggled. “You promise?” she asked.
“I promise,” said Alana.
Lottie finally put a forkful of egg into her mouth. “Let’s go swimming,” she decided. “I wanna go in the wave pool.”
“That’s my favorite!” said Alana with a grin, glad to see the girl coming out of her shell a little.
When Alana picked Lottie up from school, swimming gear in tow, the little girl ran across the playground to meet her. “Are we still going swimming?” she asked breathlessly.
“You betcha!” Alana replied, gesturing to the swimming gear. “Are you all set?”
Lottie nodded and slipped her hand into Alana’s.
As Lottie’s tiny fingers curled around hers, Alana felt her heart tighten with emotion. Lottie was so distant most of the time, so different from the exuberant twins, that every show of affection made Alana want to scoop her up into an enormous hug. But she knew she had to go slowly, so she held Lottie’s hand and acted like it was no big deal for either of them. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass the girl or scare her off.
They played in the pool for two hours, belly flopping into the waves or running away from them, screaming in mock fear. They lollygagged in the warm kiddie pools, watching the moms and babies playing. They played with the paddle boards, pretending to surf the waves and splashing each other. Finally, just when Alana thought she could take no more, Lottie let go of her board and asked, “Can we go to the hot tub?”
Alana nodded. That sounded like the perfect idea for her.
They sat down in the steaming hot water and Lottie sighed happily. “Thanks for convincing me to come,” she said, avoiding Alana’s eyes. “This was fun.”
“I’m glad,” said Alana. “I had a lot of fun too.”
“None of my other nannies would chase me or let me run around,” Lottie admitted. “They told me I had to behave.”
Alana shrugged. “Maybe I’ve gotten too used to taking care of little boys,” she joked.
Lottie gave her a shy smile.
“The way I see it,” Alana said, “there’s a time for being wild and a time for behaving. You should do both, but you need to know when to do what. Does that make sense?”
Lottie nodded. “Yeah, it does,” she said.
Alana jus
t hoped the little girl would remember this conversation the next time Eleanor came over.
That night, after she’d put Lottie to bed – which included reading her two chapters of The Secret Garden – Alana came down to the kitchen to have tea with Maria. But, instead of the cheery housekeeper, she found her boss sitting at the island with a glass of wine.
“Oh,” said Alana, already backing out of the kitchen. “Sorry to interrupt. I didn’t realize—”
“No, no!” Jack shook his head. “Come in, come in. My home is your home. Literally. I just needed a minute of quiet, but, in retrospect, maybe the kitchen is the wrong place for that.”
Alana chuckled. “Usually at this hour you should be safe, but Lottie took less time to get to bed than usual.”
Jack raised his eyebrows. “Less time?” he asked. “Usually it takes the nannies forever. She puts up such a fuss.”
Alana shrugged, putting the kettle on to boil. “We went swimming for ages this afternoon so she was pretty worn out. She did her best to get to the end of the chapter with me, but her eyes just wouldn’t stay open. It was pretty cute to watch her struggle, to be honest.”
Jack smiled softly. “I bet,” he said. “For all her attitude, she’s a really cute kid.”
Alana nodded. “She certainly is. She looks a lot like you,” she said. Which was true – yet another reason Alana was so sure Lottie would grow up to be gorgeous.
“Except her eyes,” he said wistfully. “Those are her mother’s.” But before Alana could say anything, he continued on a happier subject. “You said the end of the chapter. Do you read her bedtime stories?”
“Of course!” Alana replied. “That was the only way to get me into bed when I was her age. The promise, or, well, bribe, I guess, of lots and lots of stories.”
Jack chuckled. “And does it work with her?”
Alana nodded. “It took a few days, but then she was hooked. I was surprised that none of her other nannies tried it.”
“Honestly,” Jack said, making a face, “the other nannies just sort of wrote her off right from the beginning. She can be so wild and contrary. I couldn’t really blame them.”
